Casa da Arquitectura Centro Português de Arquitectura

Constructed Geographies: a conversation about the legacy of Paulo Mendes da Rocha at FLIP

The event will feature Bia Lessa, director and curator; Guilherme Wisnik, critic and professor of architecture; Nuno Sampaio, executive director of Casa da Arquitectura – Portuguese Centre for Architecture, which has housed the architect's archive since 2021; and Vanessa Grossman, architect, historian, and curator. The conversation will be moderated by journalist and architecture critic Fernando Serapião.

Paulo Mendes da Rocha (1928–2021) is widely recognised as one of the great names in 20th-century architecture. His work, which began in the 1950s, was often associated with “brutalism”, although he transcended this label through a practice deeply rooted in the social and urban reality of Brazil. Among his most emblematic projects are the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (MuBE), the renovation of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and several private residences – including his own home.

In 2006, Mendes da Rocha became the second Brazilian architect to receive the Pritzker Prize, the highest distinction in world architecture, after Oscar Niemeyer.

The book now presented at FLIP, edited by Jean-Louis Cohen and Vanessa Grossman, is the first major retrospective volume published after the incorporation of his archive into the Casa da Arquitectura. ‘Geografias Construídas’ offers an in-depth reading of his career, addressing not only the formal aspects of his projects, but also the political, cultural and humanistic dimensions of his architectural vision.